Flagging, Capturing and Generating Task List Items

ABSTRACT

Generation of a task or reminder in an electronic task list authoring surface from a variety of data or information locations or media without the need for launching a separate task or reminder application and without the need for moving focus away from an information location or media presently in use is provided. Generation of a task or task reminder may be accomplished from a variety of information locations or media. When an information item is flagged or captured and a task/reminder is generated, one or more pieces of metadata may be applied to the flagged information item for enhancing the subsequent use of the associated generated task or reminder.

BACKGROUND

With the advent of computers and computer software, a number ofadvancements have been made to help people manage both their working andnon-working lives. To help people who are trying to juggle numeroustasks at work, at home, and in between, electronic tasks and calendaringprograms have been developed to assist with the often daunting task ofmaintaining, tracking and remembering all the things that must beaccomplished on a daily basis. Unfortunately, most tasks systems arevery one-dimensional in that a user must launch a tasks application,open a task entry user interface component, and then manually enter atask. Oftentimes, this process immediately follows or is associated withan activity where the user is caused to decide that a new task isneeded. For example, the user may be reading an electronic mail item,the user may be reading or editing a document (for example, a wordprocessing document, a spreadsheet application document, a slidepresentation application document, and the like), the user may bebrowsing an Internet site, the user may be using a social networkapplication site, etc. For example, if the user is editing a documentand decides that he/she needs to create a task or reminder to send theedited document to a colleague one week later, the user must move awayfrom the document, launch a task application, enter a desired task andthen return to the document being edited. This cumbersome processreduces the utilization and effectiveness of the task application andoften leaves the user to avoid the task application altogether and toresort to hand-writing a note on a scrap of paper or “sticky” note.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the presentinvention has been made.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention solve the above and other problemsby providing for the generation of a task or reminder in an electronictask list authoring surface from a variety of data or informationlocations or media without the need for launching a separate task orreminder application and without the need for moving focus away from aninformation location or media presently in use. For example, if a useris editing an electronic document, the user may quickly flag, captureand export information from the electronic document into a listauthoring surface as a new task item or reminder without having to leavethe document being edited. Such flagging, capturing and task/remindergeneration may be accomplished from a variety of information locationsor media, including, but not limited to, electronic documents,electronic mail, electronic calendars, electronic tasks, electronicnotes, Internet-based content or applications, social media ornetworking sites, and the like. According to one aspect of theinvention, when an information item is flagged or captured and atask/reminder is generated, one or more pieces of metadata may beapplied to the flagged information item for enhancing the subsequent useof the associated generated task or reminder.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and description below. Other features and advantages will beapparent from a reading of the following detailed description and areview of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that thefollowing detailed description is explanatory only and is notrestrictive of the invention as claimed.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended asan aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a list authoringsurface user interface deployed on a display screen of a computermonitor.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a list authoringsurface user interface populated with one or more tasks, events,activities, or pieces of information deployed on a display screen of acomputer monitor.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of the list authoring surface userinterface of FIG. 2 showing a list of information pivoting out from aselected task item.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a computing architecture inwhich embodiments of the present invention may be practiced.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a list authoringsurface user interface displayed in association with a displayeddocument.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a mobile computingdevice and illustrating a list authoring surface user interface deployedon a display screen of the mobile computing device.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a mobile computingdevice and illustrating a list authoring surface user interface deployedon a display screen of the mobile computing device.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram illustrating an architecture andexample user interfaces for flagging, capturing, and exportinginformation from an electronic resource into a list authoring surfacefor generating a task or task reminder.

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a list authoringsurface user interface deployed in association with an electronic mailinbox for populating information from the electronic mail inbox into thelist authoring surface.

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a list authoringsurface user interface deployed in association with a displayeddocument.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating a method for flagging, capturingand exporting information from a content source to a list authoringsurface for generating a task list item.

FIG. 12 is a simplified block diagram of a computing system in whichembodiments of the invention may be practiced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawingand the following description to refer to the same or similar elements.While embodiments of the invention may be described, modifications,adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example,substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elementsillustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may bemodified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosedmethods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limitthe invention, but instead, the proper scope of the invention is definedby the appended claims.

As briefly described above, embodiments of the present invention aredirected to generation of a task or reminder in an electronic task listauthoring surface from a variety of data or information locations ormedia without the need for launching a separate task or reminderapplication and without the need for moving focus away from aninformation location or media presently in use. FIG. 1 is a simplifiedblock diagram illustrating the list authoring surface user interfacedeployed on a display screen of a computer monitor. The list authoringsurface includes a lightweight user interface 120 (also referred toherein as a list user interface) that may be deployed across a number ofsoftware applications and that may be displayed on stationary and/ormobile computing device desktops or display areas. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 1, the list authoring surface user interface (LASUI)is shown deployed on a display screen 105 of a stationary computermonitor. As should be appreciated, the display screen 105 may beillustrative of a display space associated with a computer operatingsystem, or a display space associated with one or more softwareapplications, for example, word processing applications, spreadsheetapplications, slide presentation applications, notes applications,calendaring applications, contacts applications, and the like. A row offunctions/buttons 110 is illustrated at the bottom edge of the displayscreen 105 for providing access to one or more functionalitiesassociated with an example software application or operating system. Asshould be appreciated, the configuration and location of user interfacecomponents illustrated in FIG. 1 are for purposes of example only andare not limiting of other configurations that may be possible. That is,the LASUI 120 may be deployed along an upper edge of the display screen105, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or the LASUI 120 may be deployed at otherlocations in the display screen as required by a user for effectiveutilization of the display screen.

According to embodiments, the list user interface 120 of the listauthoring surface may be utilized as an electronic note, scrap of paper,note pad, “sticky” note, and the like that is associated with one ormore software application displays for entering either manually orautomatically list items, such as tasks, events, activities or otherpieces of information, that a user might otherwise jot down on a pieceof paper, note or other media for keeping in the forefront suchinformation considered important to the user or for reminding the user.In addition to entering information into the user interface 120, theuser interface 120 may be used for quick capture of information fromopened documents and in association with opened applications so that theuser does not have to leave a current application to launch a task entryuser interface. Indeed, the list authoring surface UI 120 may beassociated with a variety of electronic files, such as electronicdocuments, electronic mail items, contacts items, social networkinginformation, and the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, one or more functionality buttons or controls125, 130, 135, 140 may be provided in the list authoring surface UI 120for editing or otherwise manipulating information contained in the UI120. For example, a control 125 may be utilized for “checking off”completed tasks, a control 130 may be utilized for adding additionaltasks, events or other information, a control 135 may be utilized forimporting information or for annotating information to be stored ordisplayed in the user interface 120, and a variety of other controls 140may be provided for other types of editing, sorting, filtering,searching, and the like information contained in the user interface 120.

According to an embodiment, one such control may be used to set thecomputer with which the list authoring surface is utilized to a “do notdisturb” mode so no new email items, instant messaging (IM) items, orother distractions would come to the list authoring surface when the “donot disturb” mode is activated. Another such control 140 may allow a“snooze” mode to be applied to the task currently displayed so that anew task could be displayed instead and so that a user would not have todecide what to do with respect to the “snooze” task. That is, the usercould hold the task by applying the “snooze” mode. In addition, the“snooze” mode may be used to filter out information not relevant to thecurrent task only. For example, if a user applies the “snooze” mode to atask of “Plan morale event,” and if the user's current task is “Redesignproduct,” and the user gets an email from his/her supervisor about thisproject, the email about the task of “Redesign project” may bedisplayed, but emails about the “Plan morale event” task may not bedisplayed to the user.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the list authoring surface user interface 120is illustrated in an expanded form showing a variety of list items, forexample, tasks, events, activities or other pieces of information, thathave been entered either manually or automatically through informationcapture into the list authoring surface. For example, a first entry 220of “Turn off sprinkler system” is illustrative of a task a user mayenter into the list authoring surface user interface 120 to remind theuser to handle this task when he returns home. For another example, asecond entry 225 of “Redesign product” is illustrated having a number ofsubtasks 230 associated with the main task 225. Items displayed in theLAS UI 120 may be displayed according to one or more specified displayarrangements, for example, based on designated time of performance, mostrecent on top, top 5 items as designated by a user, and the like. Suchdisplay arrangements may also apply to pivoted displays as describedbelow with reference to FIG. 3.

Advantageously, entering and editing information into the list authoringsurface UI 120 is easy and efficient. For example, information may betyped into the UI in a similar manner as entering a bulleted list ofitems in a word processing document. That is, the user may enter anitem, select the “enter” key, “tab” key, or the like, and subsequententries will be placed in the next row or sentence in the UI 120, butstill have all of the benefits of any applied metadata. For example, theLAS UI may be formatted such that a simple carriage return or tabselection may create a hierarchy in entered list items that may bebeneficial to the user. For example, the user may enter a first task of“Plan dinner party,” followed by a carriage return or tab and then theentry of “Reserve restaurant,” followed by another carriage return andthe entry “Review menu offerings.” By applying a hierarchical formattingto the entered items, the second two items may automatically be listedbeneath and indented relative to the first item to create a displayedhierarchical relationship between the items.

According to embodiments, once data or other information is populatedinto the list authoring surface UI 120, metadata, for example, thephrase “@Team” may be entered into the LAS UI 120 as one or more textentries and may be applied to key words, key terms, key phrases, orother information components of a task list item to allow forstructuring, editing, filtering, searching, sorting, or other automatedmanipulation of task list items (i.e., tasks, text or information)contained in the UI 120. Alternatively, metadata items may be selectedfrom a menu of metadata items for application. For example, the metadata“@Team” may be applied to the task “Meet with Contoso's team andevaluate areas in which they could support us” to indicate that theexample task is one of one or more tasks to be completed by a giventeam. In contrast, the metadata “@EricGruber” is applied to a task of“Setting up meeting for next review” to indicate that task is associatedwith a particular person.

Many other types of metadata may be applied to information in the listauthoring surface UI 120. For example, while the example “@” symbol isused above to associate a task with a person or group, the “#” symbolmay be used for tagging a task or other information with randommetadata. For other examples, the “$” could be used to tag monetaryinformation, the “&” symbol could be used to tag dates or time. Asshould be appreciated, any of a great number of such metadata types andsymbols could be used, and the foregoing are for purposes of exampleonly. Advantageously, such metadata items may be associated withinformation in the list authoring surface UI without entering anothertext or data entry field or without launching any other user interfacecomponent. As also should be appreciated, such metadata applied tovarious information in the list authoring surface UI 120 will allow forsorting, searching, filtering or otherwise manipulating the informationcontained in the UI 120. For example, using the metadata “@Team” mayallow a sorting on all tasks, events, or other pieces of information tobe performed by or that are associated with the team of personnelassociated with the metadata “@Team.”

In addition to using applied metadata to allow manipulation ofinformation in the list authoring surface UI 120, applied metadata mayalso be used to add or manipulate data in other list authoring surfaceUIs of other users. For example, if a first user enters or captures agiven piece of information in her list authoring surface UI, and thenapplies a metadata item such as “@Sarah” to the information, accordingto an embodiment, “Sarah” may now have the tagged informationautomatically populated into her list authoring surface UI so that shesees the tagged information as well.

As should be appreciated, an almost limitless amount and type ofmetadata may be applied to various pieces of information entered in thelist authoring surface. For example, such metadata terms as date, time,location, name, address, telephone number, alphanumeric, audio, videoand the like may be applied to one or more words, phrases, data, files,and the like for allowing future editing, sorting, searching, ormanipulation of the information contained in the list authoring surface.For example, if a metadata type of “date” is applied to all datescontained in the list authoring surface UI 120, such metadata may beutilized for tagging dates contained in the UI 120 to allow a user tofilter, sort, or search data contained in the UI 120 based on date. Forexample, a user may desire to sort all information contained in the UI120 by date to allow the user to quickly see those tasks or events thatare occurring or that should be performed today.

In addition to the application of metadata to one or more words, phrasesor other pieces of information, natural language processing may beutilized for tagging and/or applying metadata to information containedin the list authoring surface. For example, if a phrase such as “Meet atBob's Pizza Parlor at 6:00 p.m. on Friday” is entered into the listauthoring surface user interface 120 a natural language processor may beapplied to the phrase to parse the words to determine whether any of thewords are associated with a particular information or data type. Forexample, each word or combination of the words in the example task itemmay be parsed to determine whether any particular information type isinvolved. For example, the words “Bob's Pizza Parlor” may be tagged as aname of a business, the time “6:00 p.m.” may be tagged as a time, andthe day “Friday” may be tagged as a particular day. A natural languageprocessor may parse such phrases into one or more words, and the one ormore words may be used for searching dictionaries or stores of words formatching the parsed words with various known words such as restaurantnames, times, days, and the like. Once the natural language processoridentifies certain words or phrases as belonging to information types,those words or phrases may be tagged with metadata so that the words orphrases may be utilized for searching, sorting, filtering editing orotherwise manipulating the information, as described above.

In addition to such manipulation of listed information, allowing foracting on the listed information is equally important. For example,functionality buttons and controls may be exposed in the list authoringsurface UI to allow actions on listed items. For example, the listing ofa contact item, such as “Bob's Pizza Parlor” may cause the listing of a“call” button which when selected causes a telephone program to call thelisted contact, or an “email,” “text” or similar button which whenselected may allow an email or text message to be sent to the contact,etc. As should be appreciated, many other types of action controls maybe exposed for listed items. For example, a control for adding listednames and related information to a contacts folder may be exposed, andthe like.

In addition to natural language processing, other methods forrecognizing and utilizing particular pieces of information may be used.For example, other methods may include, parsing text or data and passingthe parsed text or data to one or more recognizer modules. Still othermethods may include use of data analytics to analyze all of the data onthe server and show auto-complete or other information (e.g., everyonewho enters “Christmas” also happens to tag it with “#holiday” andperhaps you the user would like to as well). In addition, search may beused, for example, entering “Bob's Pizza Parlor” would cause adetection/identification by doing a search and seeing that “Bob's PizzaParlor” is actually a restaurant that has an associated URL such aswww.bobspizzaparlor.com.

According to embodiments, in addition to metadata tags, other list itemattributes, including other forms of metadata, may be applied to listitems entered into the list authoring surface. For example, list itemattributes, such as team attribute, person attribute, date attribute,time attribute, location attribute, name attribute, address attribute,telephone number attribute, alphanumeric attribute, audio attribute,video attribute, and the like may be applied to a given list item. Asshould be appreciated, the list item attributes may be extensible andcustomizable, for example, price attributes, location in a store ofitems on a purchase list, etc. For example, a list item of “@Team1Meetat 2:00 pm to discuss project” may be additionally annotated with a listitem attribute of a person's name, such as “Joe,” to create a modifiedlist item of “@Team1Meet at Joe's office at 2:00 pm to discuss project.”The list authoring surface may then associate the first metadata item of“@Team” with the list item attributes of “2:00 pm” and/or “Joe's office”to generate a task for display in the list user interface 120 of allusers who are members of “@Team1.”. Association of such metadata itemsand list item attributes may allow the task to be used more effectively.For example, the resulting task item, may allow the list authoringsurface to retrieve information about the members of “Team1,” forexample, calendaring information to determine whether the members areavailable at “2:00 pm,” and/or the list authoring surface may retrievecontact information to determine the location of “Joe's office.” Suchinformation may be automatically added to the list authoring surface 120as a pivot item out from the resulting task. As should be appreciated,these are only examples of the many ways in which metadata items andother list item attributes may be associated to enhance theeffectiveness of task items in the list authoring surface.

Information entered into the list authoring surface UI 120 and tagged orgrouped according to one or more metadata types, list item attributes orin association with a natural language processor, as described above,may then be utilized in a variety of helpful ways, including generationand display of resulting tasks. For example, date and/or time annotationor tagging applied to tasks, events, activities or other pieces ofinformation (hereafter referred to as “tasks”) may be utilized formanipulating, e.g., editing, sorting, searching, or otherwisemanipulating, tasks and related information contained in the listauthoring surface according to any applied metadata or list itemattributes, e.g., date/time, people, teams, etc. In addition, tasksannotated with a date and/or time metadata may be organized in an eventstimeline and may be further annotated to help the user accomplish orotherwise handle tasks along a prescribed timeline. As referred toherein, timeline may be broadly defined to include any timerepresentation, including dates, times, calendar information, seasons,years, etc. For example, certain tasks may have hard deadlines, forexample, a doctor's appointment on a specific date and time that may notbe moved by the user.

Other tasks may require accomplishment or handling during a prescribeddate/time range, for example, some time on Friday before 6:00 p.m.According to embodiments of the invention, such date and/or timinginformation may be applied to tasks entered into the list authoringsurface user interface 120 to apply a “fuzziness” to the timing aspectof tasks contained in the user interface. For example, if on a given daytwo tasks must be accomplished or otherwise handled at very specifictimes, then those tasks may be annotated with metadata allowing the userto sort, search or otherwise manipulate those items based on the harddates/times applied. On the other hand, if one or more other tasks mustbe completed on the same day, but may be completed at any time up to agiven end time, for example, 6:00 p.m., then those tasks may beannotated with a metadata type allowing those items to move in theevents timeline associated with tasks that must be accomplished orotherwise handled on the prescribed day so long as the times foraccomplishing or otherwise handling those items do not go beyond aprescribed outer time limit, for example, 6:00 p.m. For another example,if a user wants to mow his/her lawn in the morning and go to a specificrestaurant that evening, the list authoring surface may allow capturingtimes like “Morning” and “Evening” in the same way that using a papercalendar they may put the mowing activity towards the top of the box forthat day and the restaurant name towards the bottom of the box for thatday without a specific time for either. According to an embodiment,then, sorting, searching or otherwise manipulating list items containedin the list authoring surface UI 120 may be accomplished on list itemshaving hard date/times, or may be accomplished on list items having softor fuzzy date/times, or a combination thereof.

The list authoring surface UI 120 may provide reminders to the user toaccomplish or otherwise handle tasks contained in the list authoringsurface UI 120, and the inclusion of metadata associated with harddates/times and metadata associated with soft or fuzzy dates/times maybe utilized for providing a more realistic experience to the user. Forexample, a reminder of an upcoming hard date/time, for example, aspecific appointment, may be of one variety of reminder and a reminderassociated with a soft or fuzzy date/time may be of a different type ofreminder that is less urgent in comparison to a reminder associated witha hard date/time. In addition, tasks associated with a soft or fuzzydate/time may be automatically floated through a given day's scheduleuntil a prescribed end point, for example, no later than 6:00 p.m. isapproached. Thus, the reminders associated with hard date/time items ascompared to soft or fuzzy date/time items may be accomplished in a waythat more closely approximates how a user might remind himself orherself of such items by jotting the items down on a scrap of paper,notepad, sticky note, and the like.

As described in further detail below, the list authoring surface userinterface 120 may be deployed in association with a multitude ofsoftware applications and data associated with different softwareapplication types. For example, the list authoring surface may beutilized for receiving information from or capturing information from avariety of electronic files, such as word processing documents,spreadsheet application documents, slide presentation applicationslides, Internet browser content, social media site content, videoapplications, audio applications, electronic inking, for example,handwriting electronically with a stylus and electronic writing pad,photographs, electronic mail items, calendar items, task items fromother tasks, speech-to-text files, and the like. In addition,information stored for the list authoring surface may be utilized byother applications for enhancing the functionality of the list authoringsurface.

Consider the example entered or captured task in the form of the phrase“Meet at Bob's Pizza Parlor at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.” Once individualwords or phrases in the entry are parsed, recognized, annotated, orotherwise tagged with metadata as described above, those tagged itemsmay be utilized by other applications to enhance the functionality ofthe list authoring surface. For example, the business name of “Bob'sPizza Parlor” may be passed to a software application for determining alocation of Bob's Pizza Parlor. The location of Bob's Pizza Parlor mayin turn be passed to a global positioning system (GPS) mechanism of theuser's global device, for example, a phone, personal digital assistant,etc., the time associated with the entry of “6:00 p.m. on Friday” may bepassed to a calendar function utilized by the user, and any other wordsor phrases of interest in the phrase may be thus utilized. Now,following with this example, if the user leaves his or her office and isutilizing a mobile device, to which he has deployed the list authoringsurface UI 120, as will be described below, as the user approaches thelocation of the example “Bob's Pizza Parlor” or as the user approachesthe designated time of “6:00 p.m. on Friday,” or a combination of thetwo, a reminder may be provided to the user via his mobile device thatthe time for meeting at “Bob's Pizza Parlor” is approaching, or that thelocation of “Bob's Pizza Parlor” is approaching, or of a combination ofthe above. Use of presence data (for example, location of a mobiledevice as determined by signal strength or GPS positioning) may also beused to relate information or task reminders in the list authoringsurface to other pertinent information, such as calendar items, meetinglocations, etc. In addition, if the meeting reminder is associated witha particular person or group of persons, the list authoring surface mayquery a contacts application for contacts information for the person orpersons and make that information available through the list authoringsurface UI 120.

For another example, if a user enters a task associated with the editingof a particular portion of a given word processing document, metadataassociated with an identification of the particular document may beapplied to the task entered into the list authoring surface userinterface 120. When the user next opens the specified word processingdocument, a reminder may surface in the list authoring surface UI 120 toremind the user that a particular paragraph in the word processingdocument should be edited. According to one embodiment, if such adocument is not already opened, if the user sees a reminder to edit anidentified document, the document may be opened directly from the listauthoring surface UI 120 by selecting the document identified in the UI120.

Referring still to FIG. 2, one or more functionality buttons andcontrols may be exposed in the user interface 120, in addition to thosedescribed above with reference to FIG. 1. A reminder function 210 mayallow a user to mark a given task or information item in the UI 120 forsetting a desired reminder date/time. A private notification function215 may allow a user to mark a given task or information item as“private” so that the task or information item is not exposed to otherusers via their list authoring surface user interfaces. As should beappreciated, the functions 210 and 215 are only examples of the manyfunctions that may be exposed in the list authoring surface UI 120 forapplying useful metadata or function to tasks or information itemslisted in the UI 120.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of the list authoring surface listuser interface of FIG. 2 showing a list of information pivoting out froma selected task item. As should be appreciated, for any individual taskor other piece of information entered into the list authoring surface,one or more subtasks, sub events, or sub items of information may beentered and associated with any previously entered tasks. For example,referring to FIG. 3 a variety of tasks or other pieces of information315, 320, have been entered in association with a parent task 225 of“Redesign product.” According to an embodiment, selection of the parenttask 225 allows for the launching of a pivot table 310 within the listauthoring surface user interface 120 for displaying the subtasks 315,320 associated with the parent task 225. A “More” button 330 isillustrated for allowing a display of additional subtasks 315, 320 underthe selected parent subtask 225 if the available size of the userinterface 120 only provides for an initial display of a fixed number oftasks, events, activities or other pieces of information. According toone embodiment, a specified maximum number of displayed subtasks, forexample five subtasks, may be displayed to keep the user's focus on a“top” number of important tasks. As should be appreciated, subtaskinformation displayed in the pivot table 310 may be filtered, searched,sorted, or otherwise manipulated as is the case with informationcontained in the main user interface 120.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a computing architecture inwhich embodiments of the present invention may be practiced. Referringto FIG. 4, the desktop or laptop computer 405 is illustrative of anystationary computing device utilized by a user for entering, capturingor otherwise utilizing data in association with the list authoringsurface described herein. The mobile device for 410 is illustrative of amobile telephone, personal digital assistant, wirelessly connectedlaptop computer or any other computing device with which a user mayutilize the list authoring surface in a mobile environment. Thedistributed computing network 415 is illustrative of any suitable meansfor allowing the computing devices 405, 410 to communicate with one ormore applications or databases via a remote server 420, for example, theInternet, a corporate intranet, a home-based intranet, and the like.

The server 420 is illustrative of a general purpose computing deviceoperating as a remote server on which the functionality of the listauthoring surface may be maintained for allowing the list authoringsurface to follow the user from one device 405 to another device 405 toa mobile device 410, or to any other device on which the list authoringsurface UI 120 may be deployed for use as described herein. According toan embodiment, all functionality and data storage associated with thelist authoring surface and the associated user interface 120 may takethe form of a list authoring surface application or module 100 havingsufficient computer-executable instructions for performing the functionsdescribed herein. The list authoring surface application or module 100may be resident on a single computing device 405 or 410 for use inassociation with data accessible by the devices 405 and 410.Alternatively, the functionality and associated data for the listauthoring surface and its associated user interface 120 may bemaintained and operated at the remote server 420, as illustrated in FIG.4.

The list 425 is illustrative of a database list or table accessible bythe device 405 or 410 locally or via the server 420 where informationentered manually or automatically into the list authoring surface anddisplayed via the associated user interface 420 is maintained. As shouldbe appreciated, if the user is not in a distributed computingenvironment, the list 425 and associated stored data may be stored orcached on a local computing device 405, 410. That is, according to anembodiment, each instantiation of the list authoring surface may causethe generation of a list table 425 maintained in a database storedlocally on the computing device 405, 410 or stored in association withthe server 420.

In the list 425, each task, event, activity, or other piece ofinformation may be assigned to and stored in a given line in the list425. In addition to storing each individual entry, informationidentifying annotations applied to individual entries, for example,metadata, or other identifying information may be stored in the list 425with the associated information entry. Moreover, if the information isassociated with other data, for example, a document, calendar item,electronic mail entry, or if an entry is associated with otherinformation, for example, global positioning system location data,date/time data, and the like, information identifying such associationsmay also be stored on a line in the list 425 or linked to a differentlist 425 with each associated task, event, activity or other piece ofinformation entered manually or automatically into the list authoringsurface. As new data is added to the list authoring surface userinterface, or as data is changed in the list authoring surface, or asdata contained in the list authoring surface is associated with otherinformation, the data stored in list 425 is updated. According toalternative embodiments, the list items 425 and associated data may bestored according to a variety of different means aside from a data baseline described above. For example, the list items and associated datamay be stored as extensible markup language (XML) representations orsimilar representations across multiple linked lists, tables and thelike that are available to or accessible by the list authoring surface.

Referring still to FIG. 4, a variety of information sources available tothe list authoring surface are illustrated. For example, informationfrom a contacts application or database 430 may be utilized forobtaining information for entry into the list authoring surface.Information from a calendaring application 435 and associated datastorage may similarly be obtained. As will be described below withreference to FIG. 6, information from an electronic mail application andassociated content 440 may be utilized for populating the list authoringsurface. Information from a variety of documents, for example, wordprocessing documents, slide presentation documents, spreadsheetapplication documents, and the like may be utilized for population ofdata into the list authoring surface. An ink application 450 isillustrative of an electronic pen and ink application for allowing dataentry, for example, through contact of a stylus with an electronicwriting pad. Photos applications/storage 455 is illustrative of anyapplication or data storage through which photographs may be obtainedand copied or moved to the list authoring surface. The audio/videoapplication and storage 460 is illustrative of one or more means forobtaining audio or video files, for example, a recording mechanismoperated through a digital or analog recording device or camera such asmight be available through a mobile telephone and the like. Content forthe list authoring surface may also come from Internet browsers, socialmedia sites, or other sources 465. As should be appreciated, data andinformation from any other available source for electronically moving orcopying or otherwise entering data may be utilized for populating thelist authoring surface and its associated user interface 120 with tasks,events or other information of interest.

While the various data or information illustrated in FIG. 4 areillustrated in association with the server 420, each of these sources ofdata and/or information may also be directly associated with and/orstored at local computing devices 405, 410. In addition, according toembodiments, information from one or more sources to the list authoringsurface is not a one-way communication. That is, according toembodiments, the list authoring surface and/or individual task lists ortask list items may be linked to the source from which task list itemswere obtained (e.g., a word processing document), and information fromthe task list may be pushed back to the source. For example, if a pieceof information in the form of a task item is in the LAS UI 120, thatinformation may be pushed back to a source from which it came. As shouldbe appreciated, a variety of mechanisms may be utilized for pushinginformation back to the source. A path to the source may be associatedwith each respective task list item. A selection of the task list itemmay cause exposure in the LAS UI 120 of a selectable button or controlfor pushing the selected item back to the source and/or for launchingthe source document.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a list authoringsurface interface and a list authoring surface information inputcomponent in association with a displayed document. As described above,information may be entered into the list authoring surface userinterface 120 manually or automatically through information capture asdescribed below. As illustrated in FIG. 5, an example document 530 isillustrated displayed on the computer monitor display screen 500 inassociation with an example word processing application. According toembodiments of the invention, an expanded version of the list authoringservice user interface 120 may be deployed as illustrated and describedabove with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3 for entering any desired informationincluding information about or associated with a displayed document 530.

According to another embodiment, a list authoring surface informationinput component 510 may be deployed in association with the listauthoring surface user interface 120 for entering and annotating dataabout a given task or information item in the list authoring surface UI120. According to the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the list authoringsurface information input component 510 has been launched in associationwith the task “Redesign product” and displayed in the list authoringsurface UI 120. The list authoring surface information input component510 includes a title section for providing data to identify theinformation being entered in association with a given task, event orother piece of information included in the list authoring surface. Forexample, the list authoring surface information input component 510,illustrated in FIG. 5, is identified in association with the task of“Prepare vendor proposal” which is a subtask of the parent task“Redesign product.” Underneath the title portion of the list authoringsurface information input component 510 is a comment section 520 forallowing a user to enter comments which may be additional tasks, events,activities or other information associated with the example subtask. Forexample, the comments entered in the comments section 520 may besubtasks to the subtask “Prepare vendor proposal,” or the commentsentered in the comments section 520 may simply be comments to remind theuser of various aspects of the associated subtask.

A content section 525 is provided for allowing other content items, forexample, documents, audio files, video files, or other content types tobe associated with the example task or subtask. A “people” section isillustrated at the bottom of the list authoring surface informationinput component 510 for associating one or more people, groups of peopleor teams with the subtask. For example, as was described and illustratedabove with respect to FIG. 2, a team grouping that may be utilized inassociation with a metadata tag of “@Team” may be applied to a giventask or subtask. Other groupings or individual persons may similarly beassociated with one or more tasks or subtasks entered into the listauthoring surface and its associated UI 120. As should be appreciated,the configuration, layout and fields illustrated in the list authoringsurface information input component 510 are for purposes of example onlyand are not limiting of other text, data entry or data annotating fieldsor sections that may be provided in the list authoring surfaceinformation input component 510.

Referring still to FIG. 5, the document 530 displayed on the displayscreen 500 is illustrative of any document, such as a word processingdocument, spreadsheet document, slide presentation document, notesdocument, tasks document, calendaring document, and the like that may bedisplayed on the display screen 500. As is illustrated in FIG. 5, thedocument 530 is being processed in some manner by a user, and the userdecides to enter information into the list authoring surface via thelist authoring surface information input component 510 about thedisplayed document. For example, as the user is editing the displayeddocument, the user may remember that one or more tasks should beperformed in association with the project referenced in the displayeddocument. Thus, by launching the list authoring surface user interface120 and subsequently launching the list authoring surface informationinput component 510, the user may insert tasks, comments, content itemsor associate the document or portions of the document or tasksassociated with the document with one or more people, groups or teams ofpeople just as the user might handwrite such notes or annotations on ascrap of paper or sticky note to remind the user subsequently to dealwith those matters. According to an alternate embodiment, entering tasksor other information into the LAS UI 120 while a document 530 is openedmay cause tasks or other information entered into the UI 120 to beautomatically associated with the document (i.e., metadata representingthe document may be applied to the entered tasks or other information).

As illustrated and described above with reference to FIG. 4, the listauthoring surface and its associated user interface 120 may be utilizedin a stationary computing system 405, or the list authoring surface maybe utilized in association with one or more mobile devices 410.Advantageously, information stored in the list authoring surface in thelist 425 in association with the server 420 may be deployed across avariety of applications, as described herein, and may be deployed on auser's mobile device when the user is on the go. Thus, the listauthoring surface allows the user to, in effect, carry an electronicversion of a “To do” list when the user leaves the desktop operatingenvironment by having the list authoring surface and its associated userinterface 120 deployed on his or her mobile computing device, such as amobile telephone, personal digital assistant, wireless gaming device,and the like.

According to embodiments, the list user interface may be imported to thestationary computing device 405 and to the mobile computing device 410from the remote server 420. When tasks are displayed in the list userinterface, an instantiation of the list user interface may be displayedon the stationary computing device and on the mobile computing device.When changes are made to tasks in the list user interface at the remoteserver, the changes are passed to the stationary and mobile devices inthe form of new instantiations of the list user interface displayed onthe stationary computing device and on the mobile computing device. Inaddition, when changes are made to tasks in the list authoring surfaceUI 120 at either the stationary or mobile computing devices, suchchanges may be passed up to the list authoring surface and associateddata storage at the remote server 420.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate use of the list authoring surface and itsassociated user interface in a mobile environment. As illustrated inFIG. 6, the list authoring surface user interface 620 is illustrative ofa mobile version of the list authoring surface UI 120, described above,deployed on the display screen 615 of a mobile telephone 610. Just asthe user may deploy the list authoring surface user interface 120 on adisplay screen of his or her computer or laptop, as described above,with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7, so can the user deploy the listauthoring surface user interface 620 on his or her mobile device toutilize the same functionality as may be utilized in a stationarycomputing environment.

Referring to FIG. 7, if the user launches the list authoring surfaceuser interface 620, illustrated in FIG. 6, the “To do” list may belaunched on the display screen of the user's mobile device to allow theuser to review one or more tasks, events, activities or otherinformation or to allow the user to enter additional information, editexisting information, or otherwise manipulate existing information. Ifthe user does edit or otherwise manipulate information contained in thelist authoring surface user interface via his or her mobile device, themodified information may be stored at the list 425 via the server 420,and the next time the user deploys the list authoring surface userinterface 120 on his or her stationary computing device, those changesor modifications made to information contained therein via the user'smobile device will appear in the user interface 120 deployed withrespect to one or more other applications in the user's stationarycomputing environment.

In addition, the mobile device 610 may be utilized for quick capture ofinformation that may be exported directly to the list authoring surface,as described below. For example, a camera function of a mobile telephonemay be utilized for taking a photograph that may be automaticallyimported to the list authoring surface. For another example, globalpositioning system (GPS) data from the mobile device 610 may be capturedwith respect to a particular location or address and may be imported tothe list authoring surface.

As previously described above, embodiments of the present invention alsoprovide for generation of tasks or task reminders in the list authoringsurface and the associated list authoring surface under interface 120 byflagging, capturing and exporting information from a variety of data orinformation locations or media without the need for launching a separatetask or reminder application and without the need for moving focus awayfrom the information location or media presently in use. For example, ifa user is presently editing an example spreadsheet application documentcontaining third quarter sales information, the user may wish to enter atask or reminder into the list authoring surface and the associated listauthoring surface UI 120 to remind the user to contact his/her colleagueto discuss the sales figures for last quarter. Without having to leavethe spreadsheet document currently being edited or reviewed, the usermay utilize the LAS UI 120, as illustrated and described above, and theuser may flag information contained in the spreadsheet applicationdocument for generating an appropriate task or reminder. Advantageously,the task will show in the list authoring surface 100 in addition to thecurrent application/document. Thus, the user may aggregate all ofhis/her tasks across all of his/her documents. For an example, accordingto prior systems, if a user is inserting comments into a word processingdocument she is reviewing, and if one or more of the comments causes herto want to create a task (e.g., discuss the document with a co-worker),she would have to launch a task application, leave her focus from thedocument, and create the task. According to this embodiment, the usercan copy her comment to the LAS UI 120 without leaving the document tonot only create a task, but to have the task also show in the exampleco-worker's LAS UI 120, if she so desires.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram illustrating an architecture andexample user interfaces for flagging, capturing, and exportinginformation from an electronic resource into the list authoring surfacefor generating a task or task reminder. Referring to FIG. 8, a varietyof information resources from which information may be flagged,captured, and exported to the list authoring surface are illustrated.For example, the electronic mail document 805 is illustrative of alisting of electronic mail items from which information may be flagged,captured, and exported to the list authoring surface. A document 810 isillustrative of a word processing document, a spreadsheet applicationdocument, a slide presentation document, a notes application document, agraphical design application document, a desktop publishing applicationdocument, and the like. As will be described below, information fromeach of these types of documents may be flagged, captured, and exportedto the list authoring surface for generating tasks or task reminders.

A calendar/tasks/contacts file 815 is illustrative of calendar, tasks orcontacts content that may be available through one or more calendar ortask applications. As described herein, calendaring information, tasksor contacts information available through a separate calendar, tasks orcontacts application may be utilized for flagging, capturing, andexporting information into the list authoring surface UI 120 forgenerating a task or task reminder. For example, if a user is reviewingcalendaring information for a period two weeks out from today, and theuser realizes one or more tasks need to be completed in advance of theplanned meetings, the user may flag, capture, and export informationfrom a calendaring entry to the list authoring surface UI 120 forgenerating a task that must be completed in advance of the comingmeetings.

The Internet sites 820 are illustrative of any of a variety of Internetsites to which a user may browse and from which information may beflagged, captured, and exported to the list authoring surface. Socialmedia sites 825 similarly are illustrative of any social media or socialnetworking site, for example, FACEBOOK or TWITTER, from which a user mayflag, capture, and export information to the list authoring surface forgeneration of tasks or task reminders. Other electronic content itemsthat may be flagged, captured and exported to the list authoring surfaceas task items include, but are not limited to, images, audio file, videofiles, and the like.

The user interface 830 illustrated in FIG. 8 is illustrative of aweb-based social networking site and is illustrated herein as an exampleof how information may be flagged, captured, and exported to the listauthoring surface for automatically generating a task or task reminder.Referring to the social media site 830, a title for the site of “MySocial Media Site” is illustrated at the top of the site page. A socialnetworking communication string 835 is illustrated in the page forshowing a typical communication between two members of a socialnetworking group. According to embodiments, a user may noticeinformation contained in the social networking site that causes the userto want to generate a task or task reminder. For example, referring tothe social media site page 830, during the social networkingconversation string 835, a question is asked as “Hey Bob, want to go tolunch on Tuesday, June 20 to discuss our office tennis team?” Uponseeing this question, in the conversation string of the social mediasite page 830, a user may desire to create a task or task reminder toremind the user of a lunch meeting on Tuesday, June 20 with his/hersocial media site colleague or friend. According to embodiments, theuser may utilize the list authoring surface user interface 120 asillustrated at the top of the social media site 830 to generate a taskor reminder from content contained in the page 830.

As described above, the list authoring surface may operate across ofvariety of software applications and may be maintained as anever-present user interface for entering or interacting with content ofthe list authoring surface. Thus, the user may launch the list authoringsurface UI 120 as required, or the list authoring surface UI 120 may bemaintained in an ever-present launched mode across software applicationsin use by the user.

According to embodiments, the user may highlight or otherwise select aportion of text or other content, for example, the text string 840“lunch on Tuesday, June 20” illustrated in the social media site page830. A “new task” control 130 illustrated in the user interface 120 maythen be selected for automatically generating a task item in the listauthoring surface UI 120 with the highlighted information. Thus, theinformation being flagged or highlighted, as illustrated, isautomatically captured and is exported to the list authoring surface forgeneration of a new task or task reminder. As described above withreference to FIG. 4, the information flagged, captured, and exported tothe list authoring surface may be stored in the list 425 associated withthe server 420, or the information may be stored locally on thestationary computing device 405 or on the mobile computing device 410.As described above, if the information is stored in the list 425associated with the server 420, a new row in an appropriate databasemaintaining the list 425 is generated for including the new taskassociated with the flagged, captured and exported information.

Referring still to FIG. 8, a variety of metadata items may be applied tothe flagged, captured, and exported content for enhancing the usabilityof the subsequently generated task or task reminder. According to anembodiment, metadata items may be applied to the newly generated task ortask reminder according to a variety of means. For example, the user mayenter metadata items directly to the generated task in the userinterface 120, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3.That is, if the user desires to add additional metadata to the generatedtask such as a date, a team designation, a location, or any othermetadata that may be used to enhance the usefulness, or manipulationability with respect to the generated task or task reminder, the usermay do so manually by entering metadata for association with thegenerated task or task reminder. According to an embodiment, the listauthoring surface may utilize natural language processing (or, othersuitable methods described above) for interpreting information containedin the flagged, captured, and exported content to determine whether anymetadata types should be noted for assisting and subsequent manipulation(e.g., sorting, searching, and the like) of the subsequently generatedtask or task reminder. For example the date, “Tuesday, June 20”contained in the example flagged, captured, and exported content may berecognized as days and dates by a natural language processingapplication and may be utilized to designate those words or phrases asmetadata types that may be used for manipulating the generated task ortask reminder.

According to another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 8, metadataitems may also be added to the flagged and captured content by launchinga metadata entry user interface 845. The metadata entry user interface845 is illustrative of a user interface component with which one or morecanned metadata types may be applied to the flagged and capturedinformation. For example, referring to the user interface component 845,a variety of metadata items such as “create calendar item”, “add toteam,”, “priority,” etc. are illustrated. For example, after the userflags, captures, and exports the content “lunch on Tuesday, June 20” forgeneration of an associated task or task reminder, the user may wish toapply metadata to the generated task or task reminder to associate thetask or task reminder with a particular work team. Accordingly, the usermay select the “Add to team” metadata item illustrated in the metadatacontent user interface 845 to annotate the generated task or taskreminder with metadata associated with a given work team.

According to one embodiment, selection of a given metadata item, forexample, the “Add to team” metadata item, may cause a pivot table 850 tobe displayed showing the user a list of teams to which the newlygenerated task or task reminder may be associated. For example, if theuser selects “Team 2,” then metadata may be applied to the generatedtask or task reminder associating the generated task or task reminderwith a work team designated as “Team 2.” Then, a textual identificationof the applied metadata such as “@Team2,” as illustrated above withrespect to FIGS. 1 through 3 may be added to the newly generated task ortask reminder. Now, the task generated by flagging, capturing, andexporting content to the list authoring surface may be sorted, searched,or otherwise manipulated on the metadata applied to the newly generatedtask. As should be appreciated, the metadata content illustrated in theuser interface components 845, 850 is for purposes of example only andis not limiting of the vast number and types of metadata items that maybe applied to tasks generated through flagging, capturing, and exportingcontent to the list authoring surface.

As described above, the flagging, capturing, and exporting of content tothe list authoring surface for generating a task or task reminder may bedone from a variety of content types and content sources, for example,electronic mail 805, an electronic document 810, a calendar or tasksfile 815, Internet sites 820, and social media or networking sites 825.As should be appreciated, the flagging, capturing, and exporting ofcontent to generate task or task reminders may also be performed from avariety of different software applications, such that the list authoringsurface and its associated user interface 120 may operate acrossapplication types and be an ever-present electronic “scrap of paper,”“sticky note,” or “notepad” for entering and storing notes or generatingtasks or task reminders.

Because of the extensibility of the list authoring surface across avariety of applications, the list authoring surface and its associateduser interface 120 may follow the user across various types ofelectronic mail systems, short messaging systems, mobile communicationssystems, wireless and wire line communications systems, and a variety ofsoftware applications. For another example of the extensibility of theflagging, capturing, and exporting feature described herein, if a useropens a software application for preparing taxes for a relative orcolleague on a quarterly basis, the user may utilize the list authoringsurface and the associated user interface 120 so that the user interface120 is present while the user is preparing taxes for the relative orcolleague with the example tax preparation application. While the useris preparing the tax forms for the relative or colleague, the user maydetermine that it would be helpful to have a quarterly reminder toreview the prepared tax forms and to prepare any changes or revisionsnecessary for quarterly filings. According to embodiments, the user mayflag, capture, and export content from one of the prepared tax forms,for example, identification information for the relative or colleaguefor whom the tax forms are being prepared, into the list authoringsurface for generating a task or task reminder to remind the user toreview the tax forms on a quarterly basis to prepare quarterly filings.According to one embodiment, multiple items may be flagged at once forcreating one or more tasks with one action. For example, multiple piecesof content from one or more launched documents may be flagged, asdescribed herein, and then upon command by the user, each of themultiple pieces of content may be exported to the LAS 100 for generationof one or more associated tasks.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are illustrative of additional example uses of flagging,capturing and exporting content to a list authoring surface forgeneration of a task or task list item according to embodiments of theinvention. FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a listauthoring surface user interface deployed in association with anelectronic mail inbox for populating information from the electronicmail inbox into the list authoring surface. An electronic mail inbox 900is illustrated showing a number of electronic mail entries 910.According to embodiments of the present invention, the list authoringsurface UI 120 is deployed at the top of the electronic mail userinterface 900 for receiving and utilizing tasks, events, activities orany other information associated with items contained in the electronicmail user interface 900, as described herein. For example, a givenelectronic mail entry 910 may cause the user to desire to enter a taskor other event into the list authoring surface user interface 120. Asdescribed above, the user may open the list authoring surface userinterface 120 and manually type a note in such as “Remember to speakwith Rob about working on the vendor proposal.” Alternatively, the usermay launch the list authoring surface information input component 510,illustrated and described above with respect to FIG. 9, to enter moredetailed comments, to associate one or more content items with a task,event, activity or other information, to associate groupings, teams orindividuals persons with one or more tasks or subtasks, and the like.That is, the user may desire to launch the list authoring surfaceinformation input component 510 in association with the electronic mailuser interface 900 to manually enter a number of comments or to manuallyassociate content or people with a task, event, activity or otherinformation displayed in or associated with content contained in theelectronic mail user interface 900.

According to an alternate embodiment, an automatic or quick capturefunction may be provided to allow an automatic flagging, capturing andexporting of information from a document or other file directly to thelist authoring surface for storage. For example, a set ofbuttons/controls 930 are illustrated in association with each itemdisplayed in the electronic mail user interface 900. According to anembodiment, if a user of the list authoring surface and its associateduser interface 120 desires to automatically populate the list authoringsurface with an electronic mail item, for example, the user may selectthe desired electronic mail item and cause the electronic mail item toautomatically be populated into the list authoring surface storage list425 described above with respect to FIG. 4. Once content, for example, agiven electronic mail entry 910, is automatically captured and populatedinto the list authoring surface, metadata may be manually orautomatically associated with terms or phrases or other content items inthe automatically populated entry, and natural language processing maybe applied to the entry as described above. As should be appreciated,the electronic mail calendaring items illustrated in FIG. 9 areillustrative of other types of content, for example, contacts items,items contained in other tasks applications, and the like that may bemanually entered into the list authoring surface or that may beautomatically captured and exported to the list authoring surface forgeneration of tasks, as described herein.

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a list authoringsurface user interface deployed in association with a displayeddocument. A document 530 is displayed in an example word processingapplication user interface for editing by a user. In addition, anexpanded version of the list authoring surface user interface 120 isdeployed. The example document and the list authoring surface userinterface 120, illustrated in FIG. 10, shows another example ofautomatically and quickly capturing information from a document or otherobject for inserting into the list authoring surface. For example, thetext range 1010 having the test string “using the abstract models as astarting point” may be highlighted and automatically exported from thedocument 530 into the list authoring surface user interface 120 forgeneration of tasks in the same manner as information from theelectronic mail items were exported into the list authoring surface userinterface 120 as described above with reference to FIG. 9.

According to embodiments, when information from any available objectsuch as a word processing document, slide presentation document,spreadsheet application document, electronic mail object, calendaringobject, task object, or objects of other types, such as, audio files,video files and photographs are captured and automatically imported tothe list authoring surface, one or more formatting settings may beapplied to the information that is exported to the list authoringsurface. That is, the user of the list authoring surface may haveapplied one or more formatting types, for example, bullet style,paragraph style, list style, and the like to content of the listauthoring surface, and then any content that is automatically exportedto the list authoring surface user interface will be formattedaccordingly. In the case of audio files, video files, photographs orother images, such content may be stored, displayed, or utilizedaccording to formatting applied to the list authoring surface and itsassociated user interface 120. For example, for purposes of efficiencyand optimization of processing of content displayed in the userinterface 120 of the list authoring service, photographs placed in thelist authoring surface user interface 120 may be converted to compressedthumb nail images or similar objects rather than displaying more memoryintensive versions of the objects, or audio files exported to the listauthoring surface may be transformed to text. In addition, informationentered or otherwise populated into the user interface 120 may take avariety of other forms including selectable links to Internet-basedsites, links to audio and video files, or paths to other files. Asshould be appreciated from the discussion of FIGS. 9 and 10, contentfrom a variety of different applications and application types may beautomatically and quickly captured for exporting from the associateddocuments and for importing to the list authoring surface for storage inthe list 425 in association with a given task, event, activity or otherpiece of information, or content automatically captured and exported tothe list authoring surface may take the form of its own task or subtaskonce it is imported to the list authoring surface.

According to an embodiment, tasks generated from content flagged andexported form one or more content sources (e.g., a document or emailitem) may be linked back to the source to allow a user to return to thesources from the generated tasks. For example, if the user selects textin a word processing document for generating a task, then when the usercomes across that task in the list authoring surface UI 120, the usercan easily launch the document from which it was created from the LAS UI120. For example, a piece of metadata associated with the task in theLAS UI that identifies the source may be selected for launching thesource. Alternatively, a button or control may be deployed in the LAS UIfor launching a source from which a task was generated.

Having described features and operating environments of/for embodimentsof the invention above with respect to FIGS. 1 through 10, FIG. 11 is aflowchart illustrating a method for flagging, capturing, and exportinginformation or content from a variety of sources into the list authoringsurface for generating a task or task reminder. The method 1100 beginsat start operation 1105 and proceeds to operation 1110 where anelectronic content item is received. For example, as described abovewith reference to FIG. 8, the electronic content item may be from avariety of sources or from a variety of software applications. Forexample, the electronic item may be an electronic mail item, anelectronic document, content from electronic calendars, tasks, contactsapplications, content from Internet sites, social media or networkingsites, content from various communications systems, for example, mobilecommunications, short messaging communications, audio files,photographic or image files, video files, etc.

At operation 1120, the list authoring surface user interface 120 may belaunched for generating a task or task reminder. According to oneembodiment, as described above, the user may set the list authoringsurface so that the list authoring surface user interface 120 isever-present across all software applications so that the list authoringsurface user interface 120 is ever-present regardless of the softwareapplication or content utilized by the user. For example, the userinterface 120 may be deployed on an operating system level so that theuser interface 120 is always present regardless of the softwareapplication or content that is displayed on the user's desktop or mobileelectronic display screen.

At operation 1125, a portion of content from a displayed electronicdocument or file, or a content item, for example, a photograph, audiofile, link to a content site, and the like may be selected forgeneration of a task or task reminder. According to one embodiment, theorder of operations 1120 and 1125 may be reversed. That is, if desired,the user may not have the LAS UI 120 launched in the “ever-present” modedescribed above, but the user may be currently editing one or moredocuments. Thus, the user may select a portion of content (e.g., asentence from a word processing document) at operation 1125, followed bya launching of the LAS UI 120 to generate a task from the selectedportion of content.

At operation 1130, the selected content item may be flagged forautomatically capturing and exporting to the list authoring surface. Asdescribed herein, a number of mechanisms may be employed for flaggingthe selected content for automatically generating an associated task ortask reminder. For example, a selectable control 130 in the listauthoring surface user interface 120 may be actuated for flagging theselected content, or one or more controls may be deployed near thecontent, such as illustrated with respect to the electronic mail userinterface described above with reference to FIG. 8, for automaticallyflagging the selected content and for sending the selected content tothe list authoring surface for generating a task or task reminder.

At operation 1135, metadata may be applied to the selected and flaggedportion of the electronic content item. As described above, metadata maybe applied to the selected content item manually, or through anautomatic application of metadata items, as described above withreference to FIG. 8.

At operation 1140, the selected or flagged content may be passed to thelist authoring surface for entry in the database list 425 for generationof a task or task reminder. At operation 1145, the list authoringsurface may generate a task or task reminder from the flagged, captured,and exported content. At operation 1150, the newly generated task ortask reminder may be displayed in the list authoring surface userinterface 120 as described herein. At operation 1155, the generated anddisplayed task or task reminder may be utilized by the user forassisting the user in accomplishing his/her various work and leisureactivities. As described above, the generated task item may link back tothe source. For example, if the user selects text in a word processingdocument for generating a task, then when the user comes across thattask in the list authoring surface UI 120, the user can easily launchthe document from which it was created from the LAS UI 120. The methodends at operation 1195.

Having described embodiments of the present invention and an examplelogical flow illustrating a method for flagging, capturing andgenerating one or more task list items, FIG. 12 is a block diagramillustrating example physical components of a computing device 1200 withwhich embodiments of the invention may be practiced. The computingdevice components described below may be suitable for the computingdevices described above, for example, the computing devices 405, 410 andthe server and database systems 420, 425. In a basic configuration,computing device 1200 may include at least one processing unit 1202 anda system memory 1204. Depending on the configuration and type ofcomputing device, system memory 1204 may comprise, but is not limitedto, volatile (e.g. random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile (e.g.read-only memory (ROM)), flash memory, or any combination. System memory1204 may include operating system 1205, one or more programming modules1206, and may include a web browser application 1220. Operating system1205, for example, may be suitable for controlling computing device1200's operation. In one embodiment, programming modules 1206 mayinclude a logging engine 1220 embedded in a web page and/or installed oncomputing device 1200. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may bepracticed in conjunction with a graphics library, other operatingsystems, or any other application program and is not limited to anyparticular application or system. This basic configuration isillustrated in FIG. 12 by those components within a dashed line 1208.

Computing device 1200 may have additional features or functionality. Forexample, computing device 1200 may also include additional data storagedevices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magneticdisks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated inFIG. 12 by a removable storage 1209 and a non-removable storage 1210.

As stated above, a number of program modules and data files may bestored in system memory 1204, including operating system 1205. Whileexecuting on processing unit 1202, programming modules 1206, such as thelist authoring surface application or module 100 described above withrespect to FIG. 1 and the web browser application 1207 may performprocesses including, for example, one or more method 1000's stages asdescribed above. The aforementioned process is an example, andprocessing unit 1202 may perform other processes. Other programmingmodules that may be used in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention may include electronic mail and contacts applications, wordprocessing applications, spreadsheet applications, databaseapplications, slide presentation applications, drawing or computer-aidedapplication programs, etc.

Generally, consistent with embodiments of the invention, program modulesmay include routines, programs, components, data structures, and othertypes of structures that may perform particular tasks or that mayimplement particular abstract data types. Moreover, embodiments of theinvention may be practiced with other computer system configurations,including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Embodiments of theinvention may also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may be practiced in anelectrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged orintegrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizinga microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements ormicroprocessors. Embodiments of the invention may also be practicedusing other technologies capable of performing logical operations suchas, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including but not limited tomechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. In addition,embodiments of the invention may be practiced within a general purposecomputer or in any other circuits or systems.

Embodiments of the invention, for example, may be implemented as acomputer process (method), a computing system, or as an article ofmanufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readablemedia. The computer program product may be a computer storage mediareadable by a computer system and encoding a computer program ofinstructions for executing a computer process.

The term computer readable media as used herein may include computerstorage media. Computer storage media may include volatile andnonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology for storage of information, such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Systemmemory 1204, removable storage 1209, and non-removable storage 1210 areall computer storage media examples (i.e., memory storage.) Computerstorage media may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, electricallyerasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used tostore information and which can be accessed by computing device 1200.Any such computer storage media may be part of device 1200. Computingdevice 1200 may also have input device(s) 1212 such as a keyboard, amouse, a pen, a sound input device, a touch input device, etc. Outputdevice(s) 1214 such as a display, speakers, a printer, etc. may also beincluded. The aforementioned devices are examples and others may beused.

The term computer readable media as used herein may also includecommunication media. Communication media may be embodied by computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other datain a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term“modulated data signal” may describe a signal that has one or morecharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communicationmedia may include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF),infrared, and other wireless media.

Embodiments of the present invention, for example, are described abovewith reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations ofmethods, systems, and computer program products according to embodimentsof the invention. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur outof the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality/acts involved.

While certain embodiments of the invention have been described, otherembodiments may exist. Furthermore, although embodiments of the presentinvention have been described as being associated with data stored inmemory and other storage mediums, data can also be stored on or readfrom other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storagedevices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or a CD-ROM, a carrier wave fromthe Internet, or other forms of RAM or ROM. Further, the disclosedmethods' stages may be modified in any manner, including by reorderingstages and/or inserting or deleting stages, without departing from theinvention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications or variations may be made in the present invention withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the invention. Other embodimentsof the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromconsideration of the specification and practice of the inventiondisclosed herein.

1. A method for generating task items from captured content, comprising:receiving an electronic content item; selecting a portion of theelectronic content item for generation of a task item; applying one ormore metadata items to the selected portion of the electronic contentitem; automatically exporting the selected portion of the electroniccontent item to a list authoring surface for generation of the task itemfrom the exported selected portion of the electronic content item; andgenerating a task item for the selected portion of the electroniccontent item and associating the applied one or more metadata items tothe generated task item.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting aportion of the electronic content item for generation of a task itemincludes electronically flagging a portion of the electronic contentitem for capturing the flagged portion as a task item.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, prior to flagging a portion of the electronic content item forcapturing the flagged portion as a task item, launching a list authoringsurface user interface for receiving the exported flagged portion theelectronic content item as a generated task item.
 4. The method of claim2, further comprising displaying the generated task item in the listauthoring surface user interface.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising saving the generated task item in a task item list associatedwith the list authoring surface.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinapplying one or more metadata items to the selected portion of theelectronic content item includes manually applying the one or moremetadata items via the list authoring surface user interface.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein applying the one or more metadata items viathe list authoring surface user interface, includes selecting one ormore metadata items for application to the selected portion of theelectronic content item via a metadata entry interface launched inassociation with the selected portion of the electronic content item. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein applying one or more metadata items tothe selected portion of the electronic content item includesautomatically applying the one or more metadata items via the listauthoring surface user interface.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinautomatically applying the one or more metadata items via the listauthoring surface user interface includes: parsing the selected portionof the electronic content item; determining whether one or morecomponents of the selected portion of the electronic content item areassociated with one or more metadata items; and applying the one or moremetadata items to the one or more components of the selected portion ofthe electronic content item that are associated with one or moremetadata items.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the electroniccontent item is one of an electronic document, an electronic mail item,an electronic calendar item, an electronic contacts item, an electronictasks item, an Internet site, an intranet site, a social networkingsite, an image, an audio file, a video file, and to one or more otherelectronic content item types.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinselecting a portion of the electronic content item for generation of atask item includes selecting a portion of the electronic content itemwhile the electronic content item is displayed; and wherein generating atask item for the selected portion of the electronic content itemincludes generating the task item for the selected portion of theelectronic content item without removing the electronic content itemfrom display.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising linking thegenerated task item back to a source of the electronic content item suchthat selection of the generated task item from the list authoringsurface causes a launching of the source of the electronic content item.13. A computer readable medium containing computer-executableinstructions which when executed by a computer perform a method forgenerating task items from captured content, comprising: receiving anelectronic content item; electronically flagging a portion of theelectronic content item for capturing the flagged portion as a taskitem; automatically exporting the flagged portion of the electroniccontent item to a list authoring surface for generation of the task itemfrom the exported flagged portion of the electronic content item;applying one or more metadata items to the selected portion of theelectronic content item; generating a task item for the selected portionof the electronic content item and associating the applied one or moremetadata items to the generated task item; displaying the generated taskitem in a list authoring surface user interface.
 14. The computerreadable medium of claim 13, prior to flagging a portion of theelectronic content item for capturing the flagged portion as a taskitem, launching a list authoring surface user interface for receivingthe exported flagged portion the electronic content item as a generatedtask item.
 15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, whereinapplying one or more metadata items to the selected portion of theelectronic content item includes manually applying the one or moremetadata items via the list authoring surface user interface.
 16. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein applying the one or moremetadata items via the list authoring surface user interface, includesselecting one or more metadata items for application to the selectedportion of the electronic content item via a metadata entry interfacelaunched in association with the selected portion of the electroniccontent item.
 17. The computer readable medium of claim 13, whereinapplying one or more metadata items to the selected portion of theelectronic content item includes automatically applying the one or moremetadata items via the list authoring surface user interface.
 18. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 17, wherein automatically applying theone or more metadata items via the list authoring surface user interfaceincludes: parsing the selected portion of the electronic content item;determining whether one or more components of the selected portion ofthe electronic content item are associated with one or more metadataitems; and applying the one or more metadata items to the one or morecomponents of the selected portion of the electronic content item thatare associated with one or more metadata items.
 19. A system forgenerating task items from flagged and captured content, comprising: alist authoring surface application operative to receive an electroniccontent item; to receive a selection of a portion of the electroniccontent item for generation of a task item; to apply one or moremetadata items to the selected portion of the electronic content item;to generate a task item for the selected portion of the electroniccontent item and associating the applied one or more metadata items tothe generated task item; and to display the generated task item in alist authoring surface user interface.
 20. The system of claim 19, thelist authoring surface being further operative to receive an electroniccontent item from one of an electronic document, an electronic mailitem, an electronic calendar item, an electronic contacts item, anelectronic tasks item, and Internet site, an intranet site, a socialnetworking site, an image, an audio file and a video file.